Interim Storage, Regulation and Practical Aspects (the case of Portugal) J.G. Alves ULisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico Laboratório de Proteção e Segurança Radiológica EN 10 (km 139,7), 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal NEA Workshop on the Management of Non-Nuclear Radioactive Waste Legnaro, Padova (Italy), 2 nd to 4 th of May, 2017 Instituto Superior Técnico 1
Outline Interim Storage Regulations The case of Portugal Instituto Superior Técnico 2
Interim storage storage The holding of radioactive sources, radioactive material, spent fuel or radioactive waste in a facility that provides for their/its containment, with the intention of retrieval. Storage is by definition an interim measure, and the term interim storage would therefore be appropriate only to refer to short term temporary storage when contrasting this with the longer term fate of the waste. Storage as defined above should not be described as interim storage. In many cases, the only element of this definition that is important is the distinction between disposal (with no intent to retrieve) and storage (with intent to retrieve). The use of the term disposal indicates that there is no intention to retrieve the waste. If retrieval of the waste at any time in the future is intended, the term storage is used. in IAEA Safety Glossary, 2016 in Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom Instituto Superior Técnico 3
Regulation IAEA Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, IAEA, Vienna (1997) European Union Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM, establishing a Community Framework for the Responsible and Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste, Council of the European Union (2011) Joint structure for the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards, General Safety Requirements part 3, n.º GSR part 3, IAEA, Vienna (2014)) Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM, laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, and repealing Directives 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom Instituto Superior Técnico 4
Regulation Framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Taking into account that all countries may generate radioactive waste from power generation, in the course of agricultural, industrial, medical and research activities, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, remediation and interventions. RW and SF require containment and isolation from humans and the living environment over the long term, In order to protect human health and the environment from the dangers of ionizing radiation exposure, All stages, from the generation to disposal should be taken into account. Instituto Superior Técnico 5
Regulation Framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Member States are responsible for their policies in respect to management of SF and RW Legal framework: National safety requirements and regulations Competent regulatory authority System of licensing Allocation of human and financial resources Policy: the generation should be kept to the minimum reasonably applicable Planning: from generation to disposal in the MS where SF+RW was generated Reusability and retrievability: storage versus the longer term fate of the waste Instituto Superior Técnico 6
Regulation Framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Member States are responsible for their policies in respect to management of SF and RW National programme: transposition of political decisions; Safety: commensurate with the level of risk graded approach MS with all risks, MS with no NPP but RR, MS with no NPP and no RR Transparent: the opinion of intervening parties, local authorities and public are taken into account in the decision-making process Report, Revision, Update: to EU, Joint Convention, regular peer review by MS, EU (ARTEMIS, IRRS) Instituto Superior Técnico 7
Açores Portugal Lisboa Madeira Population 10.6 million No NPPs Nuclear Research Reactor (operation since 1961) National Laboratory R&D facilities (ITN) Member of IAEA and EU IST Instituto Superior Técnico 8
RW in Portugal comes from: Medical, industrial, and research applications of radioactive materials in the form of sealed and unsealed sources; Past U and Ra mining and milling activities; Contaminated or irradiated scrap metal; Smoke detectors and lightning rods; Depleted uranium (aircraft counterweights); Spent/Disused sealed sources Instituto Superior Técnico 9
RW in Portugal comes from: Exploration of Uranium ore was terminated in 2000, with plans to restart. There are no NPPs, only a 1 MW pool-type research reactor (RPI). The RPI was converted from HEU to LEU in 2006 to improve proliferation resistance. All HEU was returned to the USA and there is no spent fuel at the RPI facility or in Portugal. Instituto Superior Técnico 10
Legislation: Decree-Law n. 29/2012, February 9 th : State Laboratory ITN became part of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), the School of Engineering of the University of Lisbon; Decree-Law 30/2012, February 9 th : transposes Directive 2009/71/EURATOM, into national law and creates the competent regulatory authority supervising the safety of nuclear facilities Comissão Reguladora para a Segurança das Instalações Nucleares (COMRSIN); Decree-Law 156/2013, November 5 th : transposes Directive 2011/70/EURATOM into national law. COMRSIN became responsible for the supervision of the safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste; IST recognized as a Waste Management Organization and PRR as a national storage facility. Ordinance 44/2015, February 20 th, adopts clearance and exemption levels from Directive 2013/59/EURATOM, December 5 th Instituto Superior Técnico 11
18 Faculties & Institutes 43.600 Students 3.500 Teaching staff 500 Researchers 2.400 other staff 11.500 Students 852 Teaching & Researcher staff 500 Other staff The case of Portugal Campus Taguspark Campus Alameda Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear C2TN IPFN LATR LEN RPI LPSR WMO Instituto Superior Técnico 12
LPSR Laboratório de Proteção e Segurança Radiológica Quality Secretariat Radiation Protection activities /services Ionizing radiation metrology (SSDL) Individual and environmental monitoring Radiobiology National Dose Register Metrology and Dosimetry Environmental Radioactivity Operational Radiation Protection Emergency preparedness Education and training Radioanalytical techniques for measurement of natural and artificial radionuclides in environmental samples, foodstuff, feedstuff, construction materials, Rn in water, in dwellings, Safety assessment of radiological facilities, equipments, environment Transport of radioactive material Radioactive waste management Control of sealed sources and orphan sources Meadium-low activity waste storage facility Instituto Superior Técnico 13
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013: Except for authorized discharges of VSLW at the producer, all solid and liquid LLW and ILW produced in Portugal is segregated, packed and stored at the surface in a pavilion located at IST, on the same premises as the RPI. Pavilhão de Resíduos Radioativos (PRR): Facility exists since the early 1960s. 3 wings, the last one built in the 1990s. Instituto Superior Técnico 14
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013: IST acts as a Waste Management Organization (WMO) under the regulatory control of COMRSIN: Annual inventories of RW stored at PRR are prepared and sent to COMRSIN; On November 5 th 2015, IST applied for a license to COMRSIN to operate the PRR facility, in compliance with Decree-Law 156/2013; On October 25 th 2016, COMRSIN granted a license for the operation of PRR by IST for a 5y period; COMRSIN issued recommendations for improvement of the PRR facility. A plan was set up and is being implemented. Instituto Superior Técnico 15
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013: COMRSIN: National Programme on the Management of SF and RW (2015-2019): Environmental Strategic Assessment presented to Institutions and public consultation; Comments and suggestions incorporated; Pending Government publication in the Official Journal Additionally, IST acts as a Technical Support Organization (TSO): Collaboration on the preparation of documents: e.g. Ordinance on clearance levels, National Programme, Guidelines, Reports, ; Monitoring and characterization of RW prior to collection. Instituto Superior Técnico 16
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013 and National Programme: Current practice: Spent Fuel All HEU spent fuel from RPI was shipped to the USA in 2008; The RPI was voluntarily stopped in May 2016 in order to perform structural inspections recommended by an INSARR mission (February 2016) with the goal to extend the license for 10 years; The LEU fuel used since 2007 is eligible to be returned to the USA before 2019; If the LEU fuel is not returned to the USA, it may be reprocessed. Expect a small amount of vitrified ILW to be returned to Portugal. Such ILW packed in appropriate containers could be stored at the PRR. Instituto Superior Técnico 17
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013 and National Programme: Current practice: Radioactive Waste The collection, segregation, conditioning and storage of solid and liquid RW produced in Portugal is attributed to IST, under the regulatory control of COMRSIN (article 14 th ); All facilities that manage or store RW for more than 30 days require a license in all phases from sitting to decommissioning (article 9 th ); Instituto Superior Técnico 18
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013 and National Programme: Current practice: Short lived RW from medical and research facilities The radioactive effluents generated in hospitals and research laboratories are stored to decay in tanks (therapy) or stored in individual drums for decay (diagnostic and research), before discharge into the public sewage systems (Decree-Law 180/2002, art. 71 and 79) Instituto Superior Técnico 19
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013 and National Programme: Current practice: Spent /Disused Sealed Sources The importation, transport and transfer of a radioactive sealed source requires authorization from IST (Directive 2003/122/EURATOM transposed by Decree- Law 38/2007, February 19 th ); Licensee must pay a fee for each radioactive sealed source imported (10% of its commercial value); Once the licensee considers that the source can no longer be used, it should return it to its manufacturer; IST collects and stores the spent/disused sources when it is not possible to return them to the manufacturer; The fee paid by the licensee is meant to account for the end of life treatment of the source and should be given back when the source is returned to the manufacturer. Instituto Superior Técnico 20
Implementation of Decree-Law 156/2013 and National Programme: Current challenges: characterization of legacy waste Until the publication of Ordinance 44/2015, all materials (NORM included) that triggered the alarms e.g. at scrap metal and/or hazardous waste yards were collected and sent to PRR; Drums containing historic waste not identified or records seem to have been lost (most from medical applications); Characterization of waste with clearance and exemption criteria /aims; Present the corresponding requests to COMRSIN; Instituto Superior Técnico 21
Type of Waste Spent Fuel Long Term Management Policy All past spent fuel has been returned to the USA. There is no spent fuel presently stored in Portugal Funding Government Current Practice /Facilities Present RPI LEU fuel may also return to the USA. Otherwise sent for reprocessing and stored in the form of vitrified waste in containers that are safe to store at PRR Planned Facilities None Nuclear Fuel Cycle Waste There are no fuel cycle activities in Portugal None Not applicable /None Not planned Application Waste Decommissi oning Disused Sealed Sources Decree-Law 156/2013 that transposes EU Directive 70/2011/EURATOM Not planned for the RPI or PRR Return to manufacturer or store at PRR Pavilion for RW (PRR) at IST using, in part, Government funds Use clearance levels to liberate RW from regulatory control. Otherwise use Decree-Law 156/2013 Instituto Superior Técnico 22 Not planned Government Not applicable Not planned Defined by IST. Licensees pay a deposit during operation Storage at PRR Not planned
Framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Member States are responsible for their policies in respect to management of SF and RW National programme: transposition of political decisions; Safety: commensurate with the level of risk graded approach MS with all risks, MS with no NPP but RR, MS with no NPP and no RR Transparent: the opinion of intervening parties, local authorities and public are taken into account in the decision-making process Report, Revision, Update: to EU, Joint Convention, regular peer review by MS, EU (ARTEMIS, IRRS) 1 st National Programme for 2015-2019 Instituto Superior Técnico 23
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